US, Afghan Military Destroy Several al-Qaeda Sites in Afghanistan

The US conducted 63 precision airstrikes while Afghan forces engaged in several battles on the ground against al-Qaeda networks at two related sites, according to the US military.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The US Air Force and Afghan troops have dismantled several al-Qaeda sites in the last five days, including training grounds, the US military said Tuesday.

"We struck a major al Qaeda sanctuary in the center of the Taliban's historic heartland," Brig. Gen. Wilson Shoffner, a US spokesman in Afghanistan, said, as quoted by the CNN, adding that "numerous" militants were dead as a result of the operation.

"The US conducted 63 precision airstrikes while Afghan forces engaged in several battles on the ground against al-Qaeda networks at two related sites," the military said.

A "well-established training camp" was one of the targets.

Afghanistan has remained in a state of political and social turmoil as the Taliban and al-Qaeda and Islamic State extremists take advantage of the country's instability.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force Joint Command mission in Afghanistan officially ended in 2014.

The current US plan is to end military presence in Afghanistan by December 2016, closing the remaining US bases in the country currently hosting about 10,000 servicemen.

Earlier this month, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters that the United States was considering different options for adjusting its military presence in Afghanistan in 2016 and beyond.